A young participant wearing an outfit featuring an animation character performs at the annual Comics Festival and Game Fair in Hong Kong. The fair is expected to attract more than 170 local and international exhibitors displaying their latest comics, video games and accessories.

Bodo women who fled an ethnic riot take rest at the Alayaran relief camp. A top official in India's remote northeast has appealed for an end to ethnic violence that has killed at least 45 people and left nearly 400,000 homeless in the past week.

Police officers inspect the wreckage of a truck after it veered off a mountain road and plunged into a gorge near Jammu. A police official said the truck was carrying pilgrims visiting a Hindu shrine and 16 people were killed in the accident.

Balinese burn sarcophaguses in the shape of buffalos during a Balinese Hindu mass cremation ceremony called "Ngaben" at a cemetery in Gianyar. More than 130 corpses were burnt during the collective cremation. Cremation is an essential rite of passage for Balinese Hindus, as it is considered a means of releasing the soul from the body so that it can be reincarnated.

An Indian mother of a disabled child suffering the effects of the 1984 Bhopal gas leak disaster cries during a "Special Olympics," a protest against London 2012 sponsor Dow Chemical. The event aims to raise awareness about the legacy of birth defects and pollution from the accident at a factory owned by U.S. chemical company Union Carbide, which was bought by Dow in 1999, organizers said.

An Indonesian woman cleans a water-soaked Koran outside a damaged mosque following a flash flood in the capital of West Sumatra. Residents were breaking their fast while observing Ramadan when flood waters burst from the river banks following heavy rains, sending people fleeing and damaging hundreds of houses.

Water is released from the Three Gorges Dam, a gigantic hydropower project on the Yangtze River, after heavy downpours caused the highest flood peak of the year. Weekend floods in Beijing caused "significant losses" and casualties are still being tallied, the head of the worst-hit district has said, as residents of China's capital question the official toll.

Indian artist Ranjit Dahiya works on a mural of Bollywood star Rajesh Khanna as part of the Bollywood Art Project. One of India's first superstars, Khanna died last week of undisclosed causes at age 69.

Muslims hailing from India's northeastern Assam state and living in New Delhi shout slogans during a protest against the ethnic violence in Assam. Nearly 200,000 people have fled homes in western Assam state, bundling meager belongings in cloths and crowding into government camps for protection from violence that erupted late last week.

An Israeli boy receives help to fit a gas mask to his head at a distribution center in a shopping center in Mevaseret Zion on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Israel opened distribution stations to supply its residents with new gas masks, chemical and biological weapons protection kits.

A Free Syrian Army soldier steps on a carpet with the photo of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Turkey sealed its border with Syria to trucks, cutting off a vital supply line to the embattled nation as fighting stretched into its fifth day in the commercial capital of Aleppo.

Syrian rebels hunt for snipers after attacking the municipality building in the city center of Selehattin, near Aleppo, on Monday during fights between rebels and Syrian troops. Syrian rebels "liberated" several districts of the northern city of Aleppo on Monday, a Free Syrian Army spokesman in the country's commercial hub said.

This picture taken on Monday shows rescuers evacuating an elderly woman from her flooded home. Meanwhile, Beijing's propaganda chief has ordered Chinese media to stick to good news about weekend floods in the country's capital, according to a Tuesday report after the death of at least 37 people sparked fierce criticism of the government.

People enjoy a high tide at the Arabian Sea coast after monsoon rains. Indians have been desperately waiting for the long-delayed deluge of this year's monsoon, the annual rains that replenish India's rivers and quench crops to keep this agricultural nation fed. So far, the rains were at least 22% below normal, several states faced drought and farmers feared grave losses.

Azari Bland, 5, runs through the spray of the fountain at Johnnie W. Walker Park in Jackson, Fla., on Monday. Residents from around the Grand Park neighborhood surrounding Johnnie W. Walker Park beat the heat in the fountain at the edge of the park.

A Labrador golden retriever gets a shower at Germany's first dog wsh in Duisburg, Germany. The dog wash, which was installed in a pet store and runs as a self-service delivers a shower, shampoo and a hair dry.

Kashmiri Muslim girls recite the Koran at a local religious school on the fourth day of the fasting month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to dusk.

James Holmes, identified by police as the shooter in the massacre at an Aurora, Colo., screening of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises," appears in court for the first time. His public defender, Tamara Brady, is at his side.

Firefighters battle a wind-whipped wildfire that began Sunday in Spain's Catalonia region near the town of La Jonquera, near the border with France. The blaze has destroyed about 17,000 acres. Four people had been reported killed as of Monday morning.

People stand amid the rubble of destroyed houses after a series of bomb attacks in Taji, north of Baghdad. At least 42 people were reported killed there and another 40 wounded. Bombings and shootings ripped across Iraq on Monday, killing at least 103 people in the deadliest day this year. Coordinated attacks in 13 cities are believed to indicate Al Qaeda's resurgence.

The Week in Pictures | July 23-29, 2012

The Olympic flame is burning bright in England for the start of the 2012 Summer Games as it makes its way down the Thames toward Richmond Bridge during the final day of the Olympic torch relay. There is a lot of activity ahead of the Opening Ceremonies, with First Lady Michelle Obama playing tennis during a “Let’s Move, London” event at Winfield House and volleyball players going for the ball during an exhibition match at Earls Court.

Water was released from the Three Gorges Dam in China, a gigantic hydro-power project on the Yangtze River, after heavy downpours in the upper reaches of the dam caused the highest flood peak of the year. Weekend floods in Beijing caused “significant losses,” and casualty numbers are still being tallied, the head of the worst-hit district has said, as residents of China’s capital question the official toll.

We get our first look at James Holmes, the man accused of the massacre at the Colorado movie theater where 12 people were gunned down.

Elsewhere, an Indonesian woman cleans a water-soaked Koran outside a damaged mosque following a flash flood in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra; Muslims hailing from India’s northeastern Assam state and living in New Delhi shout slogans during a protest against the ethnic violence; and an Israeli boy receives help to fit a gas mask to his head at a distribution center on the outskirts of Jerusalem.